Eave trough construction



July 3, 1962 B. N. TODOROVIC 3,

EAVE TROUGH CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 9, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 2

Bogdan N. Todorow'c 1N VEN TOR.

alpaca; 25M

y 1962 B. N. TODOROVIC 3,042,056

EAVE TROUGH CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 9. 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 5

Bogdan IV. Todarow'c 1N VEN TOR.

July 3, 1962 B. N. TODOROVIC 3,042,056

EAVE TROUGH CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 9, 1959 s Sheets-Sheet s Bogdan N. Tadavoric INVENTOR.

BY W My 8 Attcmqs United States Patent Office 3,042,056 Patented July 3, 1962 3,042,056 EAVE TROUGH CONSTRUCTION Bogdan N. Todorovic, Santa Monica, Calif. (10763 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles 24, Calif.) Filed Sept. 9, 1959, Ser. No. 838,878 3 Claims. (Cl. 135-33) This invention relates to techniques of draining water from a roof or cover or shelter of any type regardless of whether it is permanent, temporary, movable or stationary.

The principal object of the invention is to provide adequate drainage for covers of any type. There are numerous examples of possible uses of the principles of the invention, and only a few are specifically mentioned and described herein. However, it is to be understood that the principles of the invention apply in any type of cover, and the word cover as used herein is intended to mean any surface capable of shedding water. My idea is especially concerned with tops and covers of soft material.

Briefly, the invention entails a very simple strip used with or without a panel thereover, the functioning and; purpose of the strip being to shed water and direct it in a unique manner.

Obviously, drainage channeling is very old. Common roof gutters and downspouts are typical examples of drainage systems. My invention advances the techniques of draining by channeling the water in the desired directions through the medium of very inexpensive strips which may assume a number ofconfigurations depending on the particular installation. Further, the strips may be made of plastic material and may be used alone or with a panel contoured to fit over, under, and/or around the strips. This enables the strip to be concealed providing what may be roughly termed an invisible drain in that the strip is concealed, but the functioning thereof is retained.

Other objects and features of importance will become apparent to those skilled in the art in following the description of the illustrated forms of the invention.

In the drawings: 7

FIGURE 1 is a top view of an umbrella equipped with a drainage system in accordance with the invent-ion, the umbrella shovm in the open position.

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the umbrella in FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3a is a sectional view similar to FIGURE 3 but showing the drainage device in the closed position, for instance when the umbrella is in the closed position.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a drainage strip constituting part of the drainage device in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a top view of a dilferent type of umbrella equipped with a drainage system especially designed for that umbrella.

FIGURE 6 is a side view of the umbrella in FIG- URE 5.

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view representing a cover which may be used in numerous capacities and equipped with a slightly different configuration of strip forming a drainage device.

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view showing another form of the invention.

FIGURE 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a drainage system in a tent.

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing a drainage strip as used in FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 11 is an enlarged sectional view showing a drainage strip as used in FIGURE 8.

FIGURE 12 is an enlarged sectional view showing a drainage strip as would be used in connection with the tent in FIGURE 9.

As previously indicated and again emphasized the drainage system underlying the present invention may be used in connection with numerous products, objects, structures, etc., and the illustrations are to be interpreted as examples only and not exclusionary of all possible uses of the drainage system disclosed herein.

Reference is made first to FIGURES 1-4. Umbrella 10 is conventional as to the mechanism thereof, including cover 12 and ribs 14. However, in order to prevent water from dripping from two diametrically opposed parts of the umbrella, drainage devices 16 and 18 are installed on the umbrella. Explicitly, the drainage devices 16 and 18, one of which is shown in detail in FIGURES 3,.3a and 4, are mounted above the surface of cover 12 and they are, when the umbrella is open, in an approximately chordal relation with reference to the umbrella cover 12. An elongate panel 22 approximately in the form of a triangle when viewed from above (FIGURE 1), is connected by rows of stitching 24 at the upper part thereof to one of the ribs 14 and to the cover 12 of the umbrella laterally adjacent thereto. This securely connects panel 22 to the umbrella at the upper edge of the panel, while the lower edge thereof is connected by stitching 25 to ribs 14 holding it attached to the ribs. In the illustration, panel 22 actually forms the edge of cover 12, although this is not necessary in that the panel 22 may be attached directly over the surface of cover 12 by rows of stitching 24 and 25 respectively.

There is considerable slack in panel 22 i.e. it is cut to a pattern and folded on itself for leaving a pocket 28 along the upper edge thereof within which to accommodate strip 30. This strip is attached in pocket 28 by rows 32 of stitching, and when viewed from the side, the strip 30 has a longer upper part 31 and a shorter lower part 33 joined to the upper part at a slight bend 35 so that parts 31 and 33 are angularly related to each other in a direction to require strip 30 to remain separate or spaced from the cover 12 at the portion thereof closest to the center of the umbrella cover 12. From the pocket 28 the panel 22 is reversely folded to provide a trough 38 within which to capture and channel water rolling down the umbrella cover 12 and guide it out of the ends of the trough or channel 38. By a comparison of FIG- URES 3 and 3a it is quite evident that strip 30 is resilient and elastic. When the umbrella cover 12 is drawn taut by opening the umbrella, the dimensions of panel 22 are such that the upper edge of pocket 28 is drawn taut thereby slightly bowing the strip 30 to enlarge trough or channel 38 to make a better water collector. The material from which strip 30 is constructed may vary from a suitable plastic possessing elastomeric properties to spring metal or rubber.

Reference is now made to FIGURES 5 and 6. In this embodiment of the invention, umbrella 40 is recognizable as a beach umbrella. It functions the same as umbrella 10 or may be of the type which is permanently open. In either case the drainage device 42 is essentially the same as drainage device 16, except that it is continuous extending completely around the periphery of the umbrella when in the open position. The strip located in the pocket responding to pocket 28 is duplicated, there being one strip for each rib of the umbrella. Further, the panel 44 covering the strips is made to a diiferent pattern. It is deeper at one region 46 and shallower at the opposite region 48 thereof so as to form a slope in the channel 50 that responds to channel 38.

The water collected in pocket or channel 5! may simply overflow at the low point i.e. region 48, or it may be conducted off by tubing 52 with an inlet end in registry 3 with the bottom of the trough or channel and an opposite end conveniently placed, for example near the bottom of the umbrella shaft 54.

Reference is now made to FIGURE 7 which is a general view. Cover is mounted on supporting frame 62 and is adapted to represent any cover whether used on a motor vehicle or in any other capacity, so long as the purpose is to shed Water. Elongate strip 64 (FIG- URE 10) is attached to cover 60 along one edge 61 thereof by means of stitching 65. The panel 67 is attached by stitching 68 to strip 64, although it is to be clearly understood that the stitching shown in FIGURE 10 and in all other figures is diagrammatic in that other means of fastening these strips in place may be resorted to.

Strip 64 differs from strip 30 by being elongate in a different direction. It is made of an essentially fiat base 69 and an upstanding wall 70 which is tapered in crosssection and which forms both an acute and an obtuse angle with base 69 on opposite sides of the wall 70. The acute angle area forms a channel 71 for carrying ofi Water.

FIGURE 8 shows a more complex system where canopy or awning 73 is the subject improved by drainage device 74. In this embodiment a pocket 75 is formed by the cover 76 of the awning, and there is a panel 77 connected by stitching 78 to the bottom of the cover 76 beneath pocket 75.

Strip 79 is located in pocket 75 and is formed with three sides 80, 81 and 82. Side 81 bears against panel 77, while side 82 is the outer side, and side 83 forms one wall of channel 84. The other wall of channel 84 is formed by a part of the cover 76 above the pocket 75.

Drain line 87 has an inlet line 88 at one end of channel 84, and follows the masonry or type of wall down to a drain duct 91, by way of downspout portion 92 of the drain line 87.

The tent 95 in FIGURE 9 has a tent frame 96 and tent sides 97, both of which are equipped with drainage devices 98. Typical drainage device 98 is shown in "FIG- URE 12 and consists of strip 99 that is essentially U- shaped in cross-section with one side 100 longer than the other side and fitted between tent side 97 and panel 102 that forms a continuation of tent side 97. There is a pocket 103 formed between a portion of cover 97 and panel 92 and it accommodates the tapered longer side 100 of strip 99. Stitching 104 is used to connect panel 102 to tent side 97 which is actually part of the cover for the tent and stitching 105 extends through both of these pieces plus the side 100 of the drainage device 4 strip 99. Channel is formed by the sides of strip 99 and is adapted to carry off water to a remote location.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A drainage device for an inclined flexible cover, said drainage device comprising an elongated, flexible, generally triangular panel mounted on the upper side of the cover and having its marginal portions secured thereto, said panel including an inwardly folded longitudinal portion defining a trough extending from end to end of said panel, and means for holding the trough open.

2. A drainage device for an inclined flexible cover, said drainage device comprising an elongated, flexible, generally triangular panel mounted on the upper side of the cover and having its marginal portions secured thereto, said panel including an inwardly folded longitudinal portion defining a tough extending from end to end of said panel, and means for holding the trough open, said trough including inner and outer walls, said means comprising a resilient, angulated strip aflixed to the cover and having one end portion secured to said outer wall.

3. A drainage device for umbrellas of the type includ ing ribs and a generally circular, flexible cover mounted thereon, said device comprising a flexible, generally triangular panel mounted on a marginal portion of the cover, said panel having a longitudinal marginal portion folded on itself to provide a pocket and then reversely folded to provide a trough, and an outwardly divergent strip mounted on one of the ribs and engaged in the pocket for holding the trough open.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 664,157 Killmer Dec. 18, 1900 824,378 Osborn June 26, 1906 1,706,341 Zussman Mar. 19, 1929 2,551,297 Sherman May 1, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,209 Great Britain Mar. 1, 1809 

